Dear Resource, Adoptive, and Guardianship Parents:
I hope this letter finds you doing well and taking pleasure in the autumn season. As the days become shorter and move by at a faster pace, we cannot forget that the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays will soon be here. Just as each season brings change, we are also experiencing our share as we transition to a new child welfare information system called the Tennessee Family and Child Tracking System (TFACTS). For many years we utilized a computer system called TN-Kids to manage our electronic files for the children and families (biological, resource and adoptive) that we serve. Several weeks ago, the Department converted into TFACTS; and we fully expect this system to improve the way that we provide and track our day-to-day services. But, like any change that occurs, we have experienced some “bumps in the road”.
One of the improvements in our TFACTS system is that we can now generate payments to resource/adoptive parents and providers directly from one computer system (in the past this has required multiple computer systems). With this change of business, it has resulted in some families experiencing difficulty with foster care board rate and subsidy payments being paid timely and paying correct rate amounts. If your family has been involved in any of these problems, we want to offer a sincere apology to you. Many of these problems were as a result to the conversion to the new system and unpreventable. At this time, we are confident that we have identified all of these families that have been affected; and that we are resolving each individual issue and getting payments processed. The corrections to each identified problem within the system should allow timely payments going forward; but if your family has experienced or experiences problems with payments in the future, we are asking that you contact us at 1-866-576-4412 to share the problems that you are experiencing. This line is being set-up to deal directly with any payment issues. As you leave a message, please share the county that you live in and the names and dates of birth of the children that you are experiencing problems with. Once leaving a message, you can expect a return call within 24 hours to follow-up. If you like, you can contact the local office, but in order to address your concerns quickly, we would ask you to use the number above. The last thing that we would want is for families to miss an opportunity to bring this to our attention and allow it to create larger problems for you and the children in your home. In addition, I want to share that we are temporarily postponing the use of the PHONE IN system for foster care board payment verification. Payments will be able to be generated on schedule without the use of this system; and when we are ready to resume this process, we will contact you to ensure that you have the needed pin numbers for children in your home and have the proper instructions.
As stated earlier, we are confident that we have gotten resolution on all back payments that have been created at this time, and we want to make sure that you assist us in identifying and resolving any that might happen in the future. Just as we appreciate your patience with us during this transition, we are most thankful of your decision to provide support to Tennessee’s children by giving them temporary and permanent homes and likewise want to provide a comparable level of support to you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Viola Miller
Commissioner
Dept. of Children’s Services
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